[deano4blues]

14 Apr 10


With 4 games left to the season, there wasn’t too much to play for. We were still in 11th place and the highest I could realistically expect was a 9th place finish in the league. I took a seat in my office and mentally took a step back. What was I saying, I was disappointed that we couldn’t make the play offs. Just under five months ago, we were staring into oblivion with relegation the most likely outcome for this season.

I hadn’t spoken to Gary Waddock for a long time, but a newspaper article this month had highlighted his thoughts and opinions on Wycombe’s turnaround. Although still a bit bitter that I had cut his assistant manager from my regime, Gary had nothing but praise for me and the job I’d done here at Wycombe since he’d left. A safe mid table finish in our first season back in League One was a huge success – especially considering the disastrous start to the season we’d had.

With Leicester and Peterborough already relegated and Charlton and Leeds looking likely to go up, I could already visualize our next campaign and who our toughest games next year would be against. We had turned ourselves from whipping boys at the bottom to a fairytale story that was likely to just miss out on its happy ending.

A lot of our players, especially those on loan at the club, were starting to attract interest from bigger clubs, some Premiership teams even sniffing around some of the youngsters from Arsenal and Man Utd. My biggest surprise though, was that I was being touted as a possibility for a few jobs higher up in the league pyramid, with some Championship teams apparently prepared to take a punt on the gaffer that had turned tiny Wycombe Wanderers into a force to be reckoned with in League One. I was satisfied with the job I’d done so far and was looking to finish the season off strong and really leave a statement so that teams were scared of us going into the next campaign.

That was our sole aim as we travelled to MK Dons for our next game in the league.

[ChrisW13]

Really enjoyed reading this! Well done and KIU

I cant believe I am saying this but I hope you beat Leyton Orient on the 2nd May (in-game date)

[deano4blues]

17 Apr 10 MK Dons v. Wycombe


Former Wycombe Wanderers striker Jermaine Easter led the line for the Dons and was on 16 goals for the season. He was a definite threat to us and therefore DeLaet was assigned to stop him doing any damage today. Dean Keates took the captains armband as Ainsworth dropped down to the bench, struggling with fitness. Matt Harrold and Pittman were welcomed back into the fold after wimping out of last games draw.

The game was evenly contested in the first half with very little created in the first 15 minutes. The first chance of the game fell to Matt Harrold. He was working hard to secure himself a new contract with the club. His deal expired in a months time and he was pulling out all the stops today. Dean Keates and Alex Revell did the hard work on the edge of the box to fashion a chance for HARROLD who swept the ball home from the edge of the D. That was his fourth goal all season and he was really starting to find his scoring touch. About bloody time.

The referee became a part of the game within the next ten minutes. Rarely had I had to complain about a referee in my time in charge, but today was a joke. Twice in five minutes he awarded them corners that had come off their men last. From the second corner, Kivuvu had to clear off the line to keep our lead intact. I was fuming in the technical area, bellowing at the referee and chirping in the ear of the fourth official. I’m sure he didn’t appreciate it but I was giving him what for nonetheless.

To further antagonise me, the ref denied us a penalty just before half-time. The ball bounced up awkwardly and hit Easter on the arm in his own box. I don’t know whether it was intentional but his arm was well away from his body, hinting at some intent. The referee waved it away without a second thought and I couldn’t help but think if I might have influenced his decision by yelling and verbally abusing him earlier.

At half time, Al Stewart had to work hard to calm me down. The boys were on top, but barely. This game was far too close and they seemed to be doing a good job of stifling our three frontmen. Other than the goal, we’d failed to create much.

In the second half, MK Dons made a go of it. They threw a few long balls into the box and some heavy long balls over the top for Easter to chase. DeLaet seemed to have the beating of him every time and Iriekpen combined to clear away the high balls. Scott Shearer was looking very assured in goal and it was a shame that he was such a Jekkyl and Hyde performer, because on his day, he was unbeatable. He was another one playing for a contract and today he clearly wanted it.

By the 65th minute we had managed to double our lead. A minute beforehand Kivuvu made way for Spence. Basham dropped into the holding midfielder role and immediately took command. After making some space for himself and driving forwards, he found the run of Pittman who was sent clear one on one with Gueren. He opened his body up to curl round the keeper, who fell for his bodyshape as he coolly slipped the ball past him the other way. PITTMAN wheeled away with one arm aloft after a very composed finish.

Before the end of the game, both Easter and Revell had the ball in the back of the net. However, Easters effort was deemed offside. At the other end, REVELL demonstrated how to break the offside trap and caught onto a Spence throughball before dinking in the third goal of the game. It was an emphatic finish and a very polished performance in the second half that left me very proud and impressed despite the tiredness of some players at the very end of the season.


MK Dons 0-3 Wycombe
................/ Harrold ‘17
................/ Pittman ‘65
................/ Revell ‘84

[deano4blues]

18 Apr 10

We had a week until our next game at home against Swindon. Once again I had to give the lads a couple of days off in order to recover. The necessity for a decent fitness coach was becoming clearer and clearer to me. That week Thomas and Brandy returned to training and I couldn’t be more excited. I was hoping they might play on Saturday but that might have been just a stretch too far.

Back in the office I met with Ivor Beeks, one of our directors to discuss the contract side of things with many of my players. On top of Revell and Brandys loans exiring, there were a lot of our first team members on short term deals. The directors and those in charge of finances didn’t offer long contracts, hence why so many were expiring. Mousinho, Johnson, Betsy, Spence, Hunt, Bloomfield, Hinshelwood, Harrold, Woodman and spare keeper Arnold were set to expire. Most notably however, Keates, Shearer and Gresko were out of contract very soon. They were all first team players that had done a lot to put us where we were now and were concerned for their livelihoods. Despite working their asses off for the club, they were afraid they would no longer be required after the summer and rightly so. This was cut throat business and it wouldn’t be the first time a vital player had been let go for the simple reason that their wage demands were too high.

After my meeting with Beeks, I got back to the training ground and let those lads know the situation. We would be arranging meetings with each and every one of them once the season was done to discuss contracts and decide upon extensions. Until then, they were to continue to play with the same level of commitment and prove to me why they should be at the club for next seasons push.

[deano4blues]

24 Apr 10 Wycombe v. Swindon Town


Three games left in my first season in charge. It had all flown by so quickly. From staff changes to new faces on the pitch, heroes made, old faces fading to the background, it had all happened in such a short period of time. Today’s opponents were sat in 12th place; it was a proper mid table scrap. Although mathematically we still could reach the playoffs, a win today for Colchester or Walsall would kill off our chances and leave the last two games of the season as redundant.

With the exception of Nassim Akrour, we had a fully fit squad ready and raring to go. Basham continued his stint in midfield with Thomas returning and Kivuvu holding in front of the very impressive Irekpen.

There were chances galore in the first few minutes of the game. Revell had the first one, glancing a header narrowly wide. Harrold, performing at his best once again, unselfishly laid it off for Thomas, who forced a good stop from the keeper.

At one point I think we had four shots in the space of a minute. I wondered whether one would ever go in. In the end, it was a set piece that broke them down. Gresko whipped one in from the left; Harrold flicked it on for Iriekpen who rose up high to head home from six yards out. The keeper stood no chance from that range. There wasn’t a defender in sight to stop him. After the commotion had died down, I looked down the line to see the assistants flag up. The referee hadn’t seen it, maybe he’d restart the game before he could disallow it.

Unfortunately, despite a ludicrous attempt to distract the referee by Ainsworth, the referee consulted with the lino before disallowing the goal for offside. With the lads still in celebratory mode and lacking concentration, Swindon broke and opened the scoring themselves. They sprayed the ball wide, whipped a cross in for PAYNTER to head home and open the scoring. A complete lack of professionalism and awareness had allowed them to take the lead on our own pitch. I was thoroughly disappointed that was for sure.

Basham was replaced with Spence at half-time after suffering a heavy collision in the middle of the pitch. Thomas and Brandy looked slightly off the pace but I stuck with them hoping that as time went on they’d find their way into the game.

Midway through the secondhalf, Douglas, Swindons centre midfielder, picked up the ball in his own half. He strode forwards with purpose, unchallenged with our three man midfield stretched thin. As he continued up the pitch he shaped himself up before unleashing a thirty yard worldy into the top corner. 2-0 and what a goal. I think my mouth dropped open a little bit. Great technique from DOUGLAS.

A header from Harrold and a long effort from Revell both failed to hit the target. Our shooting was woeful; you could hear the frustration in the stands as the crowd tried to rally our players. When Spence hit the post from ten yards out, I knew it wasn’t going to be our day. With twenty minutes to go, I stuck Pittman on for Brandy.

Pittman failed to make any impact and the invention was lacking today. I just put it down to end of season fatigue, but I’m sure there was more to it than that. I would meet with my coaching staff tomorrow to discuss it. In the mean time I debriefed the guys, letting them know that I was disappointed that we’d lain down at home. It wasn’t something I was willing to accept. Perhaps that’s what I would be looking for this summer - players with the right attitude and mental attributes to achieve a promotion.

Yes, that’s right. I wanted promotion next term. The board may have had a longer term plan, but I didn’t see any point in aiming any lower than that going into next season. Mediocrity and mid table was not my thing; so onwards and upwards it was.


Wycombe 0-2 Swindon Town
................../ Paynter ‘28
................../ Douglas ‘57

[Hibee]

I've just finished reading from the start and I'm hooked, there's something about your writing style that really draws you in and gets you caring about the club and the players right from the beginning.

[deano4blues]

1 May 10 Leyton Orient v. Wycombe

Our last away game of the season was to be against Leyton Orient. Our line-up was going to be very similar to that which played Swindon, with the exception of Thomas who had tweaked his hamstring in coming back to soon from injury. I wouldn’t risk him again that summer as I knew I had him signed up for at least the first half of next season and I didn’t want to risk a longer term injury.

With no pressure on the team, I told them to go out there and play like it. I wanted a performance that showed me they hadn’t just thrown this run together since Christmas because it was a new and exciting regime. I didn’t want stagnation. I wanted progress. Next season I wanted to get promoted and be a Championship manager. That started with proving that we had the right players in place to do that.

Another former Wanderer was up front for Leyton Orient in the form of Scott McGleish. I had got to know him very well while I was at the club as a youth team coach. He had spent more than a few sessions mentoring some of the younger strikers and he was a top professional. I had a lot of time and respect for him and I went out of my way to go and shake his hand before the game started.

Matt Harrold, who was brought in as McGleishs replacement at Wycombe soon showed why. He was at it again and it was a shame it was at the end of the season he had found this form. Brandy did the hard work down the left with the help of a super ball from Gresko. The cross was fizzed in, HARROLD brought it down well before spinning to get his shot off and into the roof of the net.

Leyton Orients game plan appeared to be to overload the box after getting the ball wide and hope to sneak a goal in that way. Our full backs were under pressure a lot with their wingers, and right back especially, pushing on. A header from McGleish was the closest they came to scoring in a solid 20 minute spell. It bounced back off the cross bar to Iriekpens relief as he failed to match the former Chairboy in the air.

Just before halftime, Ainsworth needed to come off injured. I wasn’t sure what had happened, but it certainly didn’t look good. A physio would be another good addition this summer if we could afford it. There was nothing wrong with the job ours was doing in treating injuries. It was the prevention side of things I was interested to learn about and I wanted someone with those kind of expertise to come on board for next season.

At half time I brought on young Matty Phillips. Although not as big time as the Premiership loanees, he was a very talented player who had a great deal of ability. Unfortunately, he had found his opportunities limited here due to my new formation not requiring the width and pace of a winger like Matty.

We fell asleep with the start of the second half and we were punished from a corner. It was an easy chance that fell to MKANDAWIRE and he headed home assuredly after ghosting in at the back post unmarked. The Orient fans went crazy, an overreaction for a game that didn’t mean anything for either side, I thought.

We were dropping like flies in the second half, Kivuvu had to carry on with a knock that he couldn’t shake and Basham needed to be replaced with Spence after twisting his ankle in an awkward tackle out on the flanks.

As the game wound down, we rattled the crossbar twice looking for a winner. Keates was the first with a speculative 25 yard strike and moments later Phillips did the same from out wide. His cross, shanked badly, and pinged off the crossbar before being cleared to safety. After four minutes of unnecessary injury time, the referee called it a day on a dull and ultimately, meaningless League One game.

Leyton Orient 1-1 Wycombe
Mkandawire ’47../..Harrold ‘3

[deano4blues]

8 May 10 Wycombe v. Gillingham


Injuries to both Ainsworth and Basham would rule them both out of the last game of the season. The captains armband would again be in the hands of Dean Keates who would lead us out one more time for the 09/10 season. Gillingham were our final opposition of the season. They had been relegated the game before and therefore were in the same boat as us. Nothing to play for but a bit of pride.

They had the top scorer in the league playing for them, but even his 26 goals had not been enough to keep them up. Our top scorer, Revell was on 17 and soon increased it to 18 against the league strugglers. Once again a corner/header routine that Gillingham couldn’t deal with. REVELL was unstoppable when playing at the top of his game. He had flashes of brilliance and this was a great example of that. He managed to ark his back and manage to head at goal with such force that the keeper could do nothing about it.

James Walker had a goal disallowed for Gillingham before testing Shearer a second time just a moment later. John Mousinho, with a rare start due to Bashams injury, did very well in the opening spell and was involved in a lot of our build up play. He provided support to the man in possession all over the field and did well to set Pittman away down the right. His shot from an angle was palmed away by their keeper, Julian, before being smashed home by BRANDY who was on hand to finish.

Before half time I switched us to a counter attacking style. I made DeLaet and Iriekpen play a little deeper, inviting a bit of pressure before springing them on the break. This was effective almost straightaway. Revell flicked the ball on to Harrold who had replaced the injured Pittman. He chested it down before flicking it over the last man’s head for REVELL to run onto and volley past the stranded keeper. Gillingham were imploding after last week’s game and their impending relegation.

At half-time, 3-0 up, I chose to sit back and let Louis-Jean take the teamtalk. Next season I would be delegating a lot of responsibilities to other staff members in order to be more efficient. I sat in the corner, collecting my thoughts and analysing motivation and attitude of the current crop of players. Some were extremely professional, even though we weren’t playing for anything today. DeLaet, despite being young had a wise head on those shoulders. Gresko was another one, with his experience shining through. He was always turning up, ready to do the job and whatever was necessary to get the win. Even if he was on his last legs.

The second half blew straight by me and I wasn’t concentrating and making the small tactical adjustments I needed to. REVELL added another goal to his tally and completed his hat-trick and that’s about all I could tell you. We won 4-0 at home, we were safe and had finished in a comfortable 11th place.

I couldn’t have been more delighted with the lads and what we had achieved this season. On top of that, I was excited to see what else we were capable of when it all started up again in three months time. We stayed out on the pitch for quite a while after the game and invited the fans on to celebrate with us. We hadn’t won anything, but it was certainly nice to share with the fans what we had accomplished that season and I could see it meant a lot to a number of players. Some of which may have just played their last game for the club...

Wycombe 4-0 Gillingham
Revell ‘6, ’35, ‘77
Brandy ‘19

[pisto]

Good season mate. Hope you get promoted the next one.

[deano4blues]

15 May 10


With a week behind me and the seasons fortunes still seared into my mind – it was time to reflect on a hard fought season. Granted, I had only been fully involved for half of it; but it was still very emotionally and mentally draining.

After the Gillingham game followed the end of season party. I blew off all of the meetings with the big wigs within the club so that I could celebrate with the team. I wasn’t getting wrecked with them, but I wanted to be there to share in their achievement. Another season in League One was in store for them. They earned it and they certainly deserved it.

With the league being rechristened the nPower League One, it was a new dawn. There would be more sponsorship, more money and an almighty struggle to make that push up into the Championship. Gareth Ainsworth would be working hard this summer to see if he could stretch one more season out of those weary legs. In the mean time though, he was in charge of organising the festivities. Febian Brandy, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Ritchie DeLaet and Chris Basham all stayed to enjoy the clubs celebrations. Alex Revell, however, had not turned up. None of the lads knew where he was and I hadn’t heard a peep from him in a week.

I didn’t let one lads absence affect my night, but my curiosity did peak when I called by his apartment the next day. Alex was still nowhere to be seen and his flatmate, Matty Philips said he’d heard him having a massive row with his agent early that morning before he stormed off. Alex was nearing the end of his contract with Southend and his loan had just finished with us, as did Febian Brandys.

After finishing a point above Southend in the league, and scoring a bagful of goals for Wycombe Wanderers, it turned out that Revell would not be getting a new contract. He was to become a free agent over the summer and move on to ply his trade somewhere else. By Friday, I had finally caught up with the lad to catch up and clear the air. He was obviously very upset and struggling to come to terms with his release. He had been led to believe that a successful season with us would put him straight back in the fold at Southend. This was not to be and despite interest from several clubs, he was in a dark place.

I told him there and then that I’d love to have him join the club on a full time basis but that I wanted him to go away on holiday first and think it over. I had high hopes for next season and wanted to know he was fully on board, ready to work hard and take it to the next step in order to achieve great things.

Alex wasn’t the only one to have contract issues playing on his mind. Renewals and contract negotiations were seriously underway and Ivor Beeks was doing his utmost to keep the players I wanted whilst also keeping it financially reasonable for the club. This was going to be a busy summer for the club and I would need to be on top of my game in order to remodel this squad to my liking.

With an entire week dedicated to player contracts and on-going deals, I tried to weigh in wherever I could to keep the squad balanced and also leave room for a budget so that I could reinvest and bring new players to the club for the adventure of next season. Steve Hayes and I met up several times that week to discuss many players and many possibilities. Some of which were truly exciting and left me salivating at the thought of what we could achieve. I was chomping at the bit. There were three snippets of news in particular that got me excited, worried and gave me great pride.

The first was that Febian Brandy had been released by Manchester United. This was not the best of news for the youngster. However, he showed great maturity and dealt with the situation very well. He had known for a while that it was likely and it would have taken something truly spectacular to convince Sir Alex Ferguson to renew his contract and figure him into his plans for the Premiership and Champions League. Febian had impressed a great deal during his time at the club. His raw speed and knack of sticking the ball in the net had grabbed the attention of a few Championship sides as well as fellow promotion contenders in League One. Retaining his services and getting him in on a full time deal would be a huge task and was a number one priority for the summer.

The next item brought to my attention was regarding the third of our pitch forked attack, Nassim Akrour. He was the player that kick started our revival before the young guns came in on loan. Akrour had scored a lot of important goals, had a natural goal scoring ability, and even at 35, was in good enough shape to keep scoring in the lower leagues. The kicker was this; Steve Hayes had missed a trick when dealing with Akrours agent. We had managed to get such a talented player to the club, with a few clauses – it was like dealing with the devil. At any time, Akrour was able to leave the club or buy out of his contract for £100k. This was acceptable in my eyes and I could live with that, the next clause was the one that left me dumbfounded. Hamed Boubou, Akrours agent, had slipped in a non-promotion release clause.

f*ck. We were in the relegation zone when he joined. The sneaky bastard had only ever signed him up for six months, knowing that it was nigh on impossible to reach the playoff places in such a short amount of time. As a result, Nassim was free to leave should someone come in and inquire for his services. Teams were banging at the door and I was fuming that such a fundamental error might cost me a top-class player capable of carrying us next season. Hamed Boubou had royally f*cked us and unless we could negotiate new terms – Akrour was out of here.

The only consolation after being dealt that blow was that Steve Hayes wanted to sit down and negotiate my new contract. I had only signed a short term deal until the end of the season and Hayes wanted me full time. We scheduled talks to commence a month from now after I’d taken a break and gotten ready to do some scouting (providing we could hash out a new deal). In that month, scouts and coaches would take a short break before resuming on recruiting missions to find some good deals and contacts to strengthen our squad for next season.

With the summer already here and the World Cup looming, I was very excited. Contract negotiations would be important with Steve Hayes. It wasn’t a case of biting his hand off anymore – he needed me here after a solid start at the reigns. Nassim Akrour, Febian Brandy and Alex Revell were vital to my success last season and would be this year too. As a result, my future at Wycombe Wanderers was very much intertwined with theirs...